What does your cat do when you’re not around?

Time-shifting cats avoid confrontation, steal each other's food.

Even though we domesticated them over 9,000 years ago, house cats remain a bit of an anomaly when it comes to how we treat them. I can’t think of another species we keep as a pet for which it’s accepted behavior to let them come and go as they please, even if there are a multitude of reasons why we probably shouldn’t. Those of us who keep our house cats indoors have a pretty good idea of what they get up to all day. But those free-roaming cats keep an air of mystery. Just what do they get up to when they leave the house? How far do they roam? And are they really bloodthirsty monsters, intent on wiping out all avian life as some would have us believe? A group of biologists in the UK have undertaken a rather large study to answer that question, which was also the topic of a recent BBC documentary.

Earlier this week, we covered a study of how cheetahs hunt in the wild. That study made use of finely grained data gathered by solar-powered radio collars equipped with GPS, accelerometers, gyroscopes, and magnetometers. The Royal Veterinary College’s Alan Wilson, the lead investigator in that study, adapted that approach with a miniaturized version suitable for the much smaller house cat. Together with Sarah Ellis from the University of Lincoln and John Bradshaw at Bristol University, they recruited 50 cats (and their owners) in the village of Shamley Green in Surrey, England and fitted the felines with tracking collars to monitor them for several 24-hour time periods. Additionally, some cats were fitted with cat-cams to provide video data of what they got up to on their travels.

Surprisingly, most of the cats didn’t travel very far, with male cats often not venturing more than 100m from home and female cats traveling half as far. Some lazy felines rarely even left their own yards. As for what they did when leaving, a lot of it seemed to involve patrolling and avoiding other cats. Unlike dogs, cats aren’t pack animals, and they tend to shun other members of their species. With so many cats living in close proximity, one might think that would be difficult. It seems that, like people with DVRs, cats with overlapping domains time shift, establishing different schedules so that confrontations are kept to a minimum.

The cats were also not the lethal bird-killing machines that some recent estimates have claimed. Over a one-week period, 50 cats were only responsible for a total of 20 kills (a mixture of birds, rodents, what looked like a rather large rabbit, and even a mole). Instead of massacring the local wildlife, they appeared to prefer raiding each other’s homes for food, with multiple cats visiting other cat owners’ houses for a supplementary meal.

You can track the wanderings of a few of the study’s subjects at the BBC’s website, and those with access to BBC’s iPlayer can also catch the documentary. If and when the group publishes its findings, we’ll update you here.

Further evidence in support of the theory that cats are merely the local manifestation of a transdimensional entity that exists primarily beyond our perception, interacting with elements of our universe largely by accident, in response to stimuli we could never fully measure.

As for what they did when leaving, a lot of it seemed to involve patrolling and avoiding other cats. Unlike dogs, cats aren’t pack animals, and they tend to shun other members of their species. With so many cats living in close proximity, one might think that would be difficult."

This is so true. My cat is 16 now and has been my only cat for more than half that time. He was originally one of a litter of three with two from another litter that all grew up together. They were outdoor cats and got along great with each other, and they loved to explore. But after the other four cats were killed by cyotes or disappeared in snow storms we took the sole survivor inside, and he's been an indoor cat ever since then. But nowadays he really does not like other cats. He even scares away neighbors dogs whenever they come around, it's kinda funny.

I guess animals can change their personalities over time like people do. My cat has certainly mellowed out over time and is not as active in his old age anymore, but he's never come around to being friendly toward other animals again. He only liked the other cats he started out with and hasn't liked any since.

Edit: I do not like quoting text with my tablet, it's ridiculously annoying to get it right. ugh

Further evidence in support of the theory that cats are merely the local manifestation of a transdimensional entity that exists primarily beyond our perception, interacting with elements of our universe largely by accident, in response to stimuli we could never fully measure.

Further evidence in support of the theory that cats are merely the local manifestation of a transdimensional entity that exists primarily beyond our perception, interacting with elements of our universe largely by accident, in response to stimuli we could never fully measure.

The ancients are known to have developed somewhat of a symbiotic relationship with felines. The cats (despite user ngativ's video link above lol) were very good at keeping mice and other rodents/pests out of the villages' stockpiles of food/grain and, in return, the humans provided them with food either directly (as a treat in thanks) or indirectly just by having the stockpiles which lured the cats' prey into a location where they could be reliably found and caught. There is a reason why Ancient Egyptians had images/statues/depictions of cats all around their culture - they recognized their usefulness and their mysterious nature.

I contacted the graduate student (now PhD I believe) who was involved with the research a few months ago asking whether their cat camera technology was available to the public. This is the response I received:

Quote:

Hi kerosion, our kittycams were built by Nat Geo especially for our project. Lucky for you though, pet cams are now widely available and affordable! They only offer a few hours of recording time per use but should be suitable for finding out where your kitty goes, what kind of wildlife he is fighting off, etc. Google “ Eyenimal ” ! Thanks for your interest in our project, Kerrie Anne

I followed my cat for an hour once just to see what she was up to during the day. It took her half that time just to cross the street because of everything that needed to be inspected along the way. This study is not really an eye-opener for me.

I followed my cat for an hour once just to see what she was up to during the day. It took her half that time just to cross the street because of everything that needed to be inspected along the way. This study is not really an eye-opener for me.

I'm glad the study was done, virtually all science is good. However, this is pretty much what we all thought they did.

I'm pretty sure that my cat spends most of his time sleeping, followed by eating and running around like an idiot. If he's killed a bird in the last 6 months I'd be very, very surprised. How would the bird have gotten in the house?

some of this doesn't jive with what i've seen here in Florida. Obviously not all cats are alike (vastly dissimilar behaviorally at times) but I've seen them gather in a sort of tribal fashion on a number of occasions.

some of this doesn't jive with what i've seen here in Florida. Obviously not all cats are alike (vastly dissimilar behaviorally at times) but I've seen them gather in a sort of tribal fashion on a number of occasions.

Maybe I wasn't supposed to see that....

Oh man, nothing is creepier than walking up on a group of 4-5 cats and having them all suddenly turn and stare at you...

My cat, Maggie, informed me that you made a few errors in your first paragraph. Below is the edited version she asked me to pass along:

Even though they domesticated us over 9,000 years ago, house cats remain a bit of an anomaly when it comes to how we treat them. I can’t think of another species that keeps us as pets, let alone for which it’s accepted behavior to let them come and go as they please, even if there are a multitude of reasons why we probably shouldn’t. Those of us who imprison our house cat masters indoors have a pretty good idea of what they get up to all day. But those free-roaming cats keep an air of mystery. Just what do they get up to when they leave the house? How far do they roam? And are they really benevolent protectors, intent on wiping out all avian life as some would have us believe? A group of biologists in the UK have undertaken a rather large study to answer that question, which was also the topic of a recent BBC documentary.

I used to have a cat and a small dog, and both of them are inside animals that seemed to live kinda boring lives.

I felt bad for them a bit, because they might be doing more interesting things if they were allowed out. So this article actually makes me feel better that outside cats at least don't do anything particularly interesting either.

I do feel a bit bad for the dog when I see her staring through the gate at the outside, but I want them to stay safe and not get run over or stolen (semi common in the area) or something.

The cats were also not the lethal bird-killing machines that some recent estimates have claimed. Over a one-week period, 50 cats were only responsible for a total of 20 kills (a mixture of birds, rodents, what looked like a rather large rabbit, and even a mole). Instead of massacring the local wildlife, they appeared to prefer raiding each other’s homes for food, with multiple cats visiting other cat owners’ houses for a supplementary meal.

To figure out how much wildlife cats catch, Marra and his colleagues combed the scientific literature for the best assessments of how many cats live in the United States and of what cats there and in similar climates hunt. Roughly 114 million cats live in the contiguous United States, 84 million of which share people’s houses. Forty to 70 percent of those household cats do at least some roaming outside. Between half and 80 percent of those outdoor cats hunt.

84M * 0.40 * 0.50 * 52 * .4 = 349M84M * 0.70 * 0.80 * 52 * .4 = 978M

So cats may be killing between 350 and 975 million small animals annually. The article doesn't specify the ratio between birds and other animals.

The numbers may be even higher since it's not clear where the 114M - 84M = 30M cats that don't live with humans are living. If they are in the outdoors, then numbers will be higher, especially if they are not fed by humans so have more incentive to hunt.

some of this doesn't jive with what i've seen here in Florida. Obviously not all cats are alike (vastly dissimilar behaviorally at times) but I've seen them gather in a sort of tribal fashion on a number of occasions.

Maybe I wasn't supposed to see that....

Maybe the cats in the US are members of a Masonry type of cult...or maybe they were just trying to spook you...

As with any poll or study, I'd bet that you could significantly skew(er) these results by geography and, of course, selection of subjects. City cats v. country cats; house cats v. yard cats; barn cats v. river cats; fat cats v. skinny cats; etc. It's interesting stuff, but is valid only for a specific region, and for cats of a particular lifestyle. (Not that I'm being judgmental about felines lifestyles, mind you. I would never do that.)

some of this doesn't jive with what i've seen here in Florida. Obviously not all cats are alike (vastly dissimilar behaviorally at times) but I've seen them gather in a sort of tribal fashion on a number of occasions.

Maybe I wasn't supposed to see that....

Oh man, nothing is creepier than walking up on a group of 4-5 cats and having them all suddenly turn and stare at you...

Yup, specially at night and you are carrying a flashlight. Damn those creepy fluorescent eyes...

My cat spends most of his time outside laying on my porch or laying under a bush in my front yard. However, he does sometimes disappear for hours at a time. For a while, I found myself wondering where he went, wondering if he was maybe doing some excited exploring.

Last week, my neighbor asked if the friendly grey cat that is always sleeping on his porch belonged to me.

To figure out how much wildlife cats catch, Marra and his colleagues combed the scientific literature for the best assessments of how many cats live in the United States and of what cats there and in similar climates hunt. Roughly 114 million cats live in the contiguous United States, 84 million of which share people’s houses. Forty to 70 percent of those household cats do at least some roaming outside. Between half and 80 percent of those outdoor cats hunt.

84M * 0.40 * 0.50 * 52 * .4 = 349M84M * 0.70 * 0.80 * 52 * .4 = 978M

So cats may be killing between 350 and 975 million small animals annually. The article doesn't specify the ratio between birds and other animals.

The numbers may be even higher since it's not clear what the 114M - 84M = 30M cats that don't live with humans are living. If they are in the outdoors, then numbers will be higher, especially if they are not fed by humans so have more incentive to hunt.

Considering the number of births of pigeons and rats that infest cities, maybe all that hunting and preying is good for us.